Guardian: The new British empire? UK plans to annex south Atlantic

"...Relying on detailed geological and geophysical surveys by scientists and
hydrographers, any state can delineate a new "continental shelf outer limit"
that can extend up to 350 miles from its shoreline. Data has been collected
for most of Britain's submissions and Chris Carleton, head of the law of the
sea division at the UK Hydrographic Office and an international expert on
the process, said preliminary talks on Rockall are being held in Reykjavik,
Iceland, next week..."

 

"...The UN body has been progressing slowly through its casework. The process of
extending the normal 200-mile limit requires volumes of technical evidence
of submarine soundings. According to the convention on the law of the sea,
applicant states may register their rights by "establishing the foot of the
continental slope, by meeting the requirements stated for the thickness of
sedimentary rocks".

Once demarcated, the ocean floor may then be claimed up to 60 nautical miles
from the bottom of the continental slope. When territorial rights have been
obtained, states have the right to extract any minerals, natural gas or oil
discovered in the annexed seabed..."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,,2174615,00.html

'A Coup Has Occurred'

"...Let me simplify this and not just to be rhetorical: A coup has occurred. I woke up the other day realizing, coming out of sleep, that a coup has occurred. It’s not just a question that a coup lies ahead with the next 9/11. That’s the next coup, that completes the first.

The last five years have seen a steady assault on every fundamental of our Constitution, … what the rest of the world looked at for the last 200 years as a model and experiment to the rest of the world – in checks and balances, limited government, Bill of Rights, individual rights protected from majority infringement by the Congress, an independent judiciary, the possibility of impeachment.

There have been violations of these principles by many presidents before. Most of the specific things that Bush has done in the way of illegal surveillance and other matters were done under my boss Lyndon Johnson in the Vietnam War: the use of CIA, FBI, NSA against Americans.

I could go through a list going back before this century to Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus in the Civil War, and before that the Alien and Sedition Acts in the 18th century. I think that none of those presidents were in fact what I would call quite precisely the current administration: domestic enemies of the Constitution..."

 http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18456.htm

Secret US air force team to perfect plan for Iran strike

THE United States Air Force has set up a highly confidential strategic planning group tasked with “fighting the next war” as tensions rise with Iran.

Project Checkmate, a successor to the group that planned the 1991 Gulf War’s air campaign, was quietly reestablished at the Pentagon in June.

It reports directly to General Michael Moseley, the US Air Force chief, and consists of 20-30 top air force officers and defence and cyberspace experts with ready access to the White House, the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Detailed contingency planning for a possible attack on Iran has been carried out for more than two years by Centcom (US central command), according to defence sources.

Checkmate’s job is to add a dash of brilliance to Air Force thinking by countering the military’s tendency to “fight the last war” and by providing innovative strategies for warfighting and assessing future needs for air, space and cyberwarfare.

It is led by Brigadier-General Lawrence “Stutz” Stutzriem, who is considered one of the brightest air force generals. He is assisted by Dr Lani Kass, a former Israeli military officer and expert on cyberwarfare....

 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2512097.ece

Guatemalan Banana Union Leader Murdered

Posted to the IUF website 25-Sep-2007

Masked gunmen murdered Guatemalan union leader Marco Tulio Rammrez Portela
early in the morning of September 23 as he was leaving his home for work. Marco
Tulio was secretary of sports and culture of the banana workers union SITRABI,
which organizes Del Monte workers. His brother, Noi Antonio Rammrez Portela,is
the union general secretary.

Tulio's murder follows a pattern of rising anti-union violence and
institutional impunity in Guatemala. In July, the SITRABI headquarters was
raided by uniformed soldiers using official vehicles, who demanded information
on union officers and members. The union filed a full report with the Public
Prosecutors Office and the Special Unit for Crimes against Unionists and
Journalists.

The IUF has called on the Guatemalan government to immediately undertake a full
and open investigation into this latest union assassination. You can support
the struggle against immunity - Click here to send a message to the
authorities:

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/campaigns/show_campaign.cgi?c=309

Soul Retrieval

"...Soul Retrieval is a shamanic journey into the four compartments of our soul. The Shaman leads us to meet “Huaskar," the gatekeeper of the underworld. Huaskar gives his permission and escorts us on this journey. The first compartment of the soul is a compartment of wounds. Here we find incidents/memories of traumatic experiences that have led parts of our soul to abandon the body. The second compartment is a compartment of contracts. In order to deal with each unresolved wound we made a contract with ourselves that binds us to certain behavioral patterns. The third compartment is the compartment of grace. Here one finds him or herself in full expression of potentiality, in full radiance. The fourth compartment is the compartment of gifts. Here the journeyer will find gifts that may be used to strengthen and assist him/her in the world. As Huaskar accompanies us out of the four compartments of the soul, he assists us in finding our power animal. We return from our soul retrieval with our power animal, gifts, and knowledge of ourselves in grace. Upon the return from this journey the Shaman leads a fire ceremony in which the old contract is burned and a new one is written to replace the old. This new contract assists us in our personal growth and spiritual evolution. Soul retrieval is an experience of profound self-discovery in the world of our emotions and our soul, an empowering journey of transformation..."

 

http://yogaandshamanism.com/shamanism.php

FT: Central Banks' Actions Fail to Calm Money Markets

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/756fe446-6b9c-11dc-863b-0000779fd2ac.html

Prison libraries and the Bureau of Selective Memory

"... Earlier this summer the Bureau of Prisons, an agency under the Justice
Department, launched the Standardized Chapel Library Project,
essentially a purging of prison book shelves as a way of satisfying
recommendations from Justice's Inspector General. The 2004 report
pointed out flaws in the bureau's system for screening books in prison
libraries, a system which needed tightening in light of the terrorist
attacks of September 11. It suggested that the bureau screen existing
libraries and remove offending literature, keeping most other books
intact though under a carefully catalogued system.

The prison bureau's response instead was to dispose of all religious
materials in prison libraries with the exception of 150 titles
selected by a panel of unnamed bureaucrats. Untold religious authors
have had their spiritual messages rejected, denied to a population
which arguably could benefit from messages of hope and tolerance.

When asked by The Washington Times for the list of 150 religious
titles, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said the information must be
formally requested under the Freedom of Information Act. The bureau
would not provide the list of "experts" brought in to craft the list
and has been reluctant to reveal the process and criteria used to
select the titles that would either receive the bureau's imprimatur or
be rejected. ..."

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070923/EDITORIAL/109230003

 

New study: parallel universes do exist

 "... In Everett's "many worlds" universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out - in its own universe.

A motorist who has a near miss, for instance, might feel relieved at his lucky escape. But in a parallel universe, another version of the same driver will have been killed. Yet another universe will see the motorist recover after treatment in hospital. The number of alternative scenarios is endless.

It is a bizarre idea which has been dismissed as fanciful by many experts. But the new research from Oxford shows that it offers a mathematical answer to quantum conundrums that cannot be dismissed lightly - and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a Phd student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track. ..."

 

 

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=paUniverse_sun14_parallel_universes&show_article=1&cat=0

"You got rid of one Saddam and you left us with 50"

“There was this nonsensical idea that Saddam and everything he created was a kind of freak and that once you eradicated him the whole thing would fall apart and the potential for a liberal, democratic and a civil society would emerge as if somehow he was the only problem,” he [Charles Tripp] says. “But Saddam was a recognisable part of Iraqi history. Many Iraqis feel now that they’ve been delivered into the hands of many lesser dictators. As one of my friends said: ‘Thanks very much: you got rid of one Saddam and you left us with 50.’ ”

 

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070924_iraqi_on_insurgency_you_left_us_with_50_saddams/

Israel rajects peace petition

The Israeli government has dismissed a petition calling for a cease-fire with Hamas. The document, which was written by some of Israel’s leading writers and intellectuals, notes that “Israel has in the past negotiated with its worst enemies.”

 

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070924_israel_rejects_peace_petition/

Bush shows his sense of humor is intact

Bush urges UN to champion human rights

"... Noting that world leaders had come together 60 years ago to draw up the Declaration of Universal Human Rights as part of the founding of the UN, Bush said, "Those standards must guide our work in this world," in addressing both "long-term threats" and "the immediate needs of today."

Bush has not always been universally well-received in his annual address to the opening of the General Assembly, and this year was no different. Some delegations made a point of sitting with hands in their laps as others applauded politely when Bush concluded.

But the president's principal audience may not have been the UN delegates seated before him, anyway, some experts say, but rather the American audience. ..."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0926/p10s01-usfp.html

$9.11 fundraiser for Giuliani

"... Tomorrow, a supporter of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is hosting a “$9.11 for Rudy” fundraiser, in which guests are asked to give $9.11 donations to Giuliani’s presidential campaign. The campaign has distanced themselves from the fundraiser, but has not asked it to stop. The event has angered the International Association of Fire Fighters, which argues the 9/11 terrorist attacks are being exploited ..."

 

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/25/giuliani-fundraiser-seeking-911-from-guests/